Process for making pile fabric with permanently set hard twist wool pile yarn



Patented May 30, 1950 RILE YARN PROCESS FOR MAKING PILE FABRIC WITH PERMANENTLY SE1 n i I TWIST WOOL Robert J. Jackson, Hazardville, Conn, assignor to Bigelcw-Sanford Carpet (30., End, Thompsonville, Coma, a corporation of Massachusetts No Drawing. Application October 9, 19%, Serial No. 792,105

My invention relates to a process of weaving a pile floor covering, carpet or rug with pile tuits composed of hard twist wool pile yarn. Its principal object is to obtain pile fabrics having an proved pebbly textured pile surface. Another object is to produce such pile yarn fabrics in which the twist in the tuft legs made therewith is permanently set, i. e., resistant to wetting, as in washing and shampooing.

When wool yarn, twisted and prepared as heretciore, is woven as warp into pile over the pile wires in a pile wire loom (Tapestry or Jacquard) and the pile loops are cut, the legs of the tuft tend to untwist and straighten out so that the desired pebbly textured finish is not fully obtained. Wool yarn has been treated in various ways'inattenupts to prevent or minimize this untwisting of the pile when out but not with complete success especially with varns dyed in the darker shades. A serious defect is that when the fabric is wet, as with liquid spilled on it, or is washed or shampooed, the tuft legs further untwist so that the resilience and appearance of the fabric are seriously deteriorated.

My invention is most useful when applied to three-ply and twaply yarns, although single yarns and yarns composed of as many as sevenplies may also be used. in the case of the prelerred three-ply and two-ply yarns, the strands of yarn are given from two to five turns per inch. in twisting these single strands of yarn together, i put in from four to twelve turns per inch in forming the three-ply yarn and four to niteen turns per inch in forming the two-ply yarn.

Thus I give the wool yarn an abnormally hard twist. it form the hard twisted yarn into loose skeins whereby the yarn, being free from tension, coils upon itself and forms I wet the skeins oi kinked yarn and heat them with saturated steam at a pressure in the range between and 40 pounds per square inch for a suitable time. Thereby the twists and kinks in the yarn are set. I then dry the yarn.

The product of the foregoing process is a hard twisted wool pile yarn having, when relaxed as in skein form, kinks at intervals and a permanent set resistant to untwisting and to twisting in either direction To prepare the yarn for use as the pile yam of a floor covering I wnd it under tension on spools to straighten out the kinks while retaining in the yarn the strain which would cause the yarn to kink if the tension were released. I wind the yarn under tension on the warp beam or a pile wire loom and weave it while under tension iii til

over the wires of the loom. The withdrawal of the wires cuts the pile loops. The legs oi the cut tufts are sufilciently twisted and stifi to stand upright with occasional kinks. But they are not all at the same angle, so that the face of the fabric, which is formed by the pipe ends, provides the desired pebbly and irregular appearance. The twist in the tuft legs is permanently set in that it does not become untwisted when the pile is wet as in washing and shampooing.

My preferred practice is as follows: The wool, with or without other fibers, is dyed in the raw stock, processed and spun into strands in the usual way. The strands, which may have from two to five turns per inch, are then twisted. abnormally, i. e., about 10 turns to the inch and reeled into skeins. The skeins are removed from the reels so that the yarn in skein or bulk form is free from tension. The twist in the yarn causes it to kink at intervals. The kinked skeins are immersed in water, with or without a wetting agent, and, after centrifuging to remove excess water, they are subjected to saturated steam at about 250 F. for about thirty minutes in a closed chamber in which, by means of suitable check valves, the pressure is maintained at about 15 lbs. per square inch above atmospheric. The

twist in the yarn is thereby set. The yarn is dried. it is wound under tension onto spools thereby straightening out the kinks, but retaining the twisting strain so that if the tension were relaxed the yarn would again kink.

To use the yarn as the pile warp in a wire loom the yarn, while still under tension, is wound on the warp beam of such a. loom as is commonly employed in Tapestry or Jacquard pile fabric weaving. The pile yarns are maintained under tension in the weaving and in passing over the pile wires so that the yarn is not permitted to kink in spite of its strain to do so. The pile loops are cut by the knives on the wires as they are withdrawn. The legs of the resulting tufts, being twisted to an abnormal degree, have a tendency to kink but, when the legs of the tufts are short,

they are too short to kink but they bend in all the desired resilence and pebbly and irregular appearance.

In case the yarn is more than average resistant to the steaming treatment, the severity of that treatment may be increased by increasing the temperature and the pressure above 15 lbs. per

square inch and/or the time. The pressure may be increased if the exposure time is reduced. But the pressure should not exceed 40 lbs. per square inch with a thirty minute exposure because at that level the treatment would tend to lessen unduly the durability of the yarn by oxidation.

I prefer to treat the dyed wool with acid to protect the wool from damage by oxidation during steaming and to preserve the color. This acid can be of the type commonly used in dyeing. for example, either mineral or organic acids or acid liberating compounds or mixtures. use either acetic acid or sodium acid sulphate, the latter liberating 40 percent free sulphuric acid by weight when dissolved in water. These acids may be used in small quantities up to 20.

percent by weight of the wool used. The amount used depends upon several factors; such as the color change permissible, the allowable oxidation on the wool, the previous fixation of the dyestuff, i. e., whether it has been exhausted from the dye bath or applied as a stain, and the amount of undyed wool present.

Rugs and carpets of my invention having permanent highly twisted cut pile have many advantages over fabrics made from twisted yarn by former processes, including improved texture effect, very few, if any, untwisted tuft legs, an increased luster giving a pearly appearance to the surface of the rug or carpet and a set permanent to wetting and shampooing.

Such rugs and carpets of my invention are claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 79,320 filed March 2, 1949. My novel yarn is claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 82,495, filed March 19, 1949 and the method of making it in my copending application Serial No. 767,850, filed August 9, 1947.

I claim:

1. The process of producing a pile fabric containing cut highly twisted wool yarns woven as the pile therein, which comprises highly twisting wool yarn, reeling the twisted yarn to form skeins, relieving the skeins from tension to form kinks at intervals in said yarn, wetting the yarn, setting the twist in said yarn by subjecting the skeins of wet yarn while in a relaxed tensionless condition to a temperature of saturated steam at I prefer tov taining cut highly twisted wool yarns woven as the pile therein, which comprises highly twisting wool yarn, reeling the twisted yarn to form skeins, relieving the skeins from tension to form kinks at intervals in said yarn, setting the twist in said yarn by subjecting the skeins of yarn while in a relaxed tensionless conditionto saturated steam at a pressure of at least five pounds and not over forty pounds per square inch, drying the skeins of yarn, winding the yarns under tension thereby straightening the kinks, weaving the yarn under tension thus free of kinks as the pile warps over the wires of a wire carpet loom to form pile tufts, and cutting the pile by withdrawing the wires, whereby the tuft legs have a permanent twist and assume random angular upright positions to present a face consisting of irregularly disposed pile ends.

ROBERT J. JACKSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 886,886 Steiner May 5, 1908 2,212,744 Masland Aug. 27, 1940 2,254,740 Hansen Sept. 2, 1941 2,403,304 Robinson July 2, 1946 2,403,305 Rossiter July 2, 1946 2,430,425 Jackson .f' Nov. 4, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS I Number Country Date 7,772 Great Britain of 1891 

1. THE PROCESS OF PRODUCING A PILE FABRIC CONTAINING CUT HIGHLY TWISTED WOOL YARNS WOVEN AS THE PILE THEREIN, WHICH COMPRISES HIGHLY TWISTING WOOL YARN, REELING THE TWISTED YARN TO FORM SKEINS, RELIEVING THE SKEINS FROM TENSION TO FORM KINKS AT INTERVALS IN SAID YARN, WETTING THE YARN, SETTING THE TWIST IN SAID YARN BY SUBJECTING THE SKEINS OF WET YARN WHILE IN A RELAXED TENSIONLESS CONDITION TO A TEMPERATURE OF SATURATED STEAM AT A PRESSURE OF AT LEAST FIVE POUNDS AND NOT OVER FORTY POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH, DRYING THE SKEINS OF YARN, WINDING THE YARNS ON SPOOLS UNDER TENSION THEREBY STRAIGHTENING THE KINKS, WEAVING THE YARN UNDER TENSION THUS FREE OF KINKS AS THE PILE WARPS OVER THE WIRES OF A WIRE LOOM TO FORM PILE TUFTS, AND CUTTING THE PILE BY WITHDRAWING THE WIRES, WHEREBY THE TUFT LEGS HAVE A PERMANENT TWIST AND ASSUME RANDOM ANGULAR UPRIGHT POSITIONS TO PREVENT A FACE CONSISTING OF IRREGULARLY DISPOSED PILE ENDS. 